A Boston woman pleads guilty to armed robbery of U.S. Postal Service mail carriers

A Boston woman pleaded guilty armed robbery of US Postal Service in Mattapan and Hyde Park.

Myesha Lewis, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Boston to multiple charges related to her role in the Mattapan robbery on Nov. 29, 2022, and the Hyde Park robbery on Dec. 16, 2022. According to court documents, she was the getaway driver and criminal associate of co-conspirator Kenneth Demosthene. sentenced to three years in prison a week ago.

Prosecutors say Lewis and Demosthene robbed two letter carriers of their “arrow keys,” which unlock the blue USPS mailboxes around the city. The boxes have long been the target of thieves who ‘fish’ for letters with tools or, even more conveniently, rob letter carriers of their master keys. The goal is to score checks in the envelopes.

The Postal Inspection Service noted an increase in “mailbox fishing” in Massachusetts between 2016 and 2021. The USPS responded with boxes hardened against such fishing, but that led to a spike in robberies of letter carriers.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, there have been “at least” 23 attacks on postal workers in Boston and surrounding communities since July 2022. Of these, 15 robbers were armed with a knife, firearm or both.

Court records do not indicate that Lewis and Demosthene were armed in their previous robbery in Mattapan, but that the second robbery occurred at knifepoint.